Ghost Walker
by Eva McGregor
Summary: What if Nick had died in 'Grave Danger', what if he came back...sort of. features OC
1. The Begining

**Ghost Walker**

Eva McGregor

CSI

Nick Stokes

Rated: R, language, violence, possible sexual content

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI, Nick Stokes, or the epi 'Grave Danger'. CBS does, do I look like CBS? Don't answer that. I do own Jon Brendan, as always tell me if you're going to use him. Thanks! –btw, no I don't think they should have killed Nick off, I want him to come back next season, this idea just popped into my head

Summery: what if Nick had died? What if he came back? Sort of…AU to the season finale 'Grave Danger' features OC (starts as a drabble)

A/N: ok so I just finished watching the episode so this idea is fresh in my head, don't know how long it will stay that way. I'm starting with the idea of a rumor that Nick didn't survive being burred alive, as we should all know by now, he did in the epi. In my version, he didn't, Nick suffocated before they found him and he had been gone too long to save. But that is only the beginning for our dear Nicky….

A little back ground on the OC:

Name: Jon Brendan

Age: 20

Occupation: Medium (come on, you know it was coming)

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**Ghost Walker**

**Eva McGregor**

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**Nick didn't survive.**

**Greg understood that,** Grissom understood that. That's why they were standing in the cemetery watching their friend being lowered to the ground. It felt disturbingly ironic that they should be lowering him back into the ground after digging him up. It didn't feel right, this shouldn't be happening to one of them.

Greg and Grissom stayed long after the dirt had been thrown over the coffin. The others had left one by one saddened by the loss of a friend. But no one felt it more then they did. Greg was Nick's friend and for a long time Nick was his only friend. Grissom felt a sense of guilt that he hadn't found his charge and friend in time. If only the man hadn't have blown himself up. If only the daughter had been more fourth coming.

If only…

There were a lot of if only's to this tragedy. A lot of regrets, a lot of guilt.

"Good bye my friend," Grissom said softly placing a small figurine on the freshly placed grave stone, an ancient symbol of protection for the dead. "I know your journey isn't over yet."

If only Grissom knew how right he was….

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Miles away in a suburb house as un-descript as it was expensive Jon Brendan woke from a sound sleep to the feeling of someone in his room.

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A/N short huh? Gimmie feed back if you like the idea, I'll try to post the story in a few days, think if this as the teaser before the episode, be warned though that I might not like the idea after I start it, so if peeps like this fic and it vanishes suddenly you know why.

Plus: for those that follow my Weiss Kreuz stuff, Problems with Raising Aya will be finished, Angels in Heaven will be posted but then I need to have a major beta cause I discovered it wasn't as corrected as I though. And a new fic will be posted sometime soon. See I'm branching out


	2. Epi One Meet the Medium

**Ghost Walker**

**Eva McGregor**

**Episode one: Meet the Medium**

Summery epi 1: Meet Jon Brendan, no ordinary boy with no ordinary past. He's psychic, he can talk to the dead, more over he can see them and help them. And sometimes they can help him when his past comes back to haunt him.

Warning: mentions of rape past and present

Epi rating: M for mature

Thanks to Omo for beta'ing this, you're a pal!

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**Ghost Walker**

**Episode one: Meet the Medium**

**1**

Jon sat up breathing hard. He scanned the darkened room for a reason he had woken from a sound sleep and two sleeping pills. He knew something, someone was there waiting to be noticed, just like he knew a lot of things he shouldn't.

Not many of them could wake him from a sound sleep. Not many were that powerful. But some did. The violently departed, unsolved things, ones in desperate need to crossover but didn't know how. Even a few that didn't know they had passed.

That didn't know they were dead.

"I know you're there," Jon said into the dark, still searching for that shadow. "Unless this is an emergency, I don't work after nine. So come back tomorrow."

He flopped down on the bed and turned on his side deliberately closing his eyes. He hadn't found the shadow, but then he tended to keep his room dark so he wouldn't see them at night. It was creepy enough knowing they were there.

Jon jumped a foot when he felt something solid touching his leg. Scrambling out of bed he grabbed a cross from the night stand and clicked on the lamp. There were only two things he knew of from the Otherworld that would touch him, one was a soul that wasn't supposed to cross, and the other was something that wanted to eat his soul.

Before him stood a man. Good looking, mid-thirties, dressed in jeans and a black tee-shirt. Jon recognized the man, he kept up with the news, however he was expecting to have met the man days ago, if he was to help him.

"Why am I here?" Nick Stokes asked in confusion.

"You're dead," Jon answered calmly; something about this was stranger then normal.

Nick nodded slowly. "Why am I _here_?" he repeated with emphases. "I was there and now I'm here."

"There where?" Jon asked lowering the cross.

"Heaven I think." Nick answered. "Why am I here?"

Jon blinked then looked at the bedside clock wondering if he was really still asleep. No one that had already crossed came back. Of course they could send messages; that usually happened in Jon's dreams, but they didn't come back as ghosts.

Ever.

"I don't know," Jon finally said, "Once you've crossed you don't come back. Not as you anyway." He tilted his head to the side, "Did you have unfinished business? Maybe you didn't fully cross?"

Nick shook his head, "My friends did everything they would to find me in time. They know that."

"Do they?" Jon asked, he took a step closer to the ghost, "Look, maybe you need to deliver a message to one of them; I can help you with that. Then maybe you'll go where you're supposed to."

The ghost thought for a moment, "Ok, if you think it will help." Nick said solemnly.

Jon nodded, "It can't hurt to try," he assured the ghost.

"Ok, Grissom should be on shift now." Nick said.

Jon paused, "Damn," he muttered but went to his closet to find something to wear.

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An hour later Jon parked in the Clark Country Crime Lab parking lot. Nick unseen by anyone else sat more or less in the passenger seat next to him. They got out of the car and went inside to the reception area. Jon told the officer on duty he needed to speak with Gil Grissom on an important matter. The officer called in the request then gave Jon a visitors badge and directions to the man's office.

"Talk to him logically, or he won't believe you," Nick advised.

Jon gave the ghost a subtle look without being noticed but didn't answer. He had done this thing more then once over the course of three years, he knew what he was doing. 'But then you've never had to talk to someone that can arrest you,' a voice in the back of his head reminded him.

He reached the office door and knocked politely even though the door was open and he could see the man sitting behind his desk. "Mr. Grissom?" he asked.

"Are you Mr. Brendan?" Grissom asked in turn, "Please come in."

Jon nodded walking into the office and closed the door for privacy.

Grissom motioned him to sit down in the visitors' chair. "You said you need to speak with me?" Jon nodded, "What about?"

"I'm here to deliver a message," Jon said in his usual speech to those he needed to convey a message to. "It doesn't matter if you believe me or not, just that you listen; then I'll go."

Grissom stared at him mulling over the choice of works then nodded. "Go on," he said giving the young man his full attention.

"I'm delivering a message from Nick Stokes," Jon said carefully, "He wanted you to know he's destined for a better place and that you'll meet again when its time. He wants you to know he doesn't blame you or anyone for what happened, that you did your best and that's all he could have hoped for; that you cared." He fell silent having given the message. He let the message settle in a little before breaking the mood to stand. He didn't want to stay, he was tired and in no mood to answer questions that would get him locked up again. He gave the message, which should be enough.

"Who put you up to this?" Grissom asked in a tired yet angry voice.

Jon paused, "If I told you Nick Stokes did would you believe me?" he asked calmly. "For that matter does it really matter? I delivered his message, my job is done." He started to head out the door.

"Sit down please." Grissom called back.

Jon sighed, 'great'. "Why?" he asked turning around again. "I've delivered my message; I have no more to say."

"Do you think this is funny?" Grissom asked getting up from his seat and stalked toward the boy in hurt and anger. "Do you think death is a game?"

"No, I don't," Jon said flatly, "I don't think any part of it is funny. People die and sometimes they leave something unfinished behind. Sometimes they can finish it on their own and sometimes they can't. And that keeps me up at night. I'm sure your friend was a good man, he didn't deserve what happened to him, but fact is a lot of people that die don't deserve it, it's the way things go." He took a deep breath to calm down, "If you'll excuse me my sleep was interrupted to deliver your message I'd like to get back to it."

Grissom backed down a little perplexed. Silently he nodded backing up to let Jon open the door.

"That went well," Nick said from beside the young man where he had been the whole time. He looked around as if expecting the white light to go toward. "Now what?"

Jon frowned but kept walking. He had the sinking feeling he had just caused more problems then he solved.

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Black out/ cut to commercial


	3. Epi One 2 Meet the Medium

2

Grissom sat down at his computer and ran a search on Jon Brendan to see if he had a record. What he found was a report from fourteen years ago about a rape/murder that involved Jon's parents and the boy himself. Half the record was sealed, there were no details on what had happened to Jon, just that he had survived and had been sent to the children's mental hospital.

Checking those records Grissom was only able to find that Jon had been sent there where he lived until he was eighteen.

Interested now Grissom looked up his current address and employment. Maybe if he figured out what the young man did he could figure out why he came with a story about delivering a message from a dead man. However the only record he found was an address for a house in the suburbs. No employment, he was living off a trust fund and the house he inherited from his aunt.

That didn't sit well with Gris; he wanted to know why the boy would do such a thing. Was his time in the hospital purely post traumatic or was it more? He needed to find out if he was going to take the boy's words seriously.

Getting on the phone he called the children's hospital. He told the doctor he needed a basic for Jon's mental state because of a case he was working on. The doctor in turn told him that he couldn't legally say anything, but if it was that important he would meet him for coffee.

Grissom met the man at a small café off the interstate. Doctor Gergor Mislan was middle aged and bald, but seemed to be of a disposition that kept children from being afraid of him. They shook hands then ordered coffee settling right down to business.

"Is Jon in trouble?" the doctor asked concerned.

"Possibly," Grissom said honestly, "What can you tell me about his stay in the hospital?"

"Off the record of course," Dr. Mislan said, "I wouldn't say anything except that he's been a special case since he came into my care." He sat back a little in his chair. "So the basics, his parents were killed. That part is public record. What isn't public is why they were killed."

"Why where they killed?" Grissom asked.

"The killer was after Jon." The man said flatly, "He killed them so he could have Jon to himself. He himself was killed when the police arrived and found the man raping him. Jon was only six. Surprisingly Jon was getting over the trauma well. Except…." He hesitated. "About a year later he started claiming the ghost of his attacker had come back and was raping him in his bed when he was sleeping. There were bruises on the boy's body, we ran tests thinking one of the orderlies or another patient was doing it, but we didn't find anything. The conclusion was that he was reliving the attack in his sleep. Sometimes a dream can be so real that the body can physically react. He was getting better, he was released when he turned eighteen." He paused again, "Is he being attacked again?"

"Not that I know of." Grissom said but didn't elaborate. "Thank you for talking with me. This will help my understanding of my case better."

"Of course," Dr. Mislan said shaking Grissom's hand. "I just want him to be safe; he's had a terrible life. No one deserves that."

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Grissom returned to the office a little more enlightened to the mental state of the messenger. Though he knew logically that the fact Jon was in a mental hospital for most of his life should discredit the message, something just wouldn't stop nagging him. Dr. Mislan said the young man said he was being visited by a ghost. From what he understood of how Jon came to deliver the message Nick had appeared as a ghost to him. But in talking about Nick he said he was sure Nick was a nice guy, not that Nick had hurt him.

He sat in front of the computer staring at the address listed. He wanted to know more. He was intrigued to find out of the boy really did speak with the dead. Grissom had of course heard of Medium's, there where a couple out there known for helping out the police. Not all of them were the same; they all had different ways of communicating with the dead. Just one thing was certain…

They were usually right.

Grissom went home, caught a few hours of sleep then sat around for half an hour. It was late after noon by now, a time when he was either still asleep because of a very late shift or he was getting ready for the next. Neither he felt like doing. He wanted answers, he had to know if the young man was lying or not. He wanted to believe that Nick was in a better place or at least would be once his unfinished business was finished.

He needed to find an expert.

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Jon woke from his sleep in the late afternoon. He sat up in bed and looked around at the dim light cast through the blackout curtains that weren't quite closed. He smiled a little to find no ghost in his room. That was good; it meant the ghost he helped last night had moved on even if it had been a bit delayed. Yawning he got out of bed and walked out of his room and headed for the living room.

"Good afternoon." Nick said from where he stood by a window looking outside.

Jon shrieked, "Don't do that!" he yelled willing his heart to stop hammering, "Do you want me to join you in the afterlife? Why are you still here?"

The ghost shrugged, "Apparently it isn't my unfinished business I'm tending to." Nick drawled, "I stuck around with Grissom for a while after you left. He found out something interesting about you."

Jon paled. "So?" he asked faking disinterest. "What does that have to do with you?"

Nick shrugged. "Maybe nothing," he admitted. "Maybe everything. I was a CSI; I'm living proof there is such things as ghosts." He smiled faintly. "Well maybe not living…."

"It doesn't matter if you were CSI or not," Jon said walking out of the living room and to the kitchen. "I'm crazy remember? I talk to ghosts. I was institutionalized for fourteen years. Do you think anyone cares about me or my problems? I can't do anything, you can't do anything so just drop it."

"So, the ghost of your attacker is still around." Nick said walking through a wall into the kitchen. "And he is still hurting you."

Jon turned to glare. "Do you know what happens when you don't Cross and you're suppose to go _there_?" he asked coldly. "You don't remain like you are. You become something else, something dark." He lifted his shirt up to show a dark burn mark that looked like a hand print. "They can touch, they can hurt, and they can kill. Any time you got a really strange case that went unsolved, it was one of them. And they are mad and hungry. But no, he didn't become one of those. Those can be banished, with faith, and strength they can't hurt you."

"Then what did that?" Nick asked incredulously. "If it wasn't him."

Jon smiled darkly, "I didn't say it wasn't him."

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Black out/ cut to commercial

A/N thanks again to Omo work looking this over for me!

I'm spacing postings out because I'm not sure if I will continue after this one epi and if I do then I don't know if I want to continue in one posting area or separate them. This is an issue of if I really want to or not, not an issue about reviews or anything like that, I think so far I've gotten no flames so… shrugs I'm trying to work on too many things at once, I should keep a schedule….

On to the reviews…

From the introduction/prologue:

Krysalys73 and Lifegaurd: thank you!

Artemis: this will be a ghost fic not a vamp fic…actually if you wanna help me with another idea I had of a Daywalker Greg…..

From Part One of Epi One:

Krysalys: you know I wonder as well, I never know with Jon he seems determined to be a permanent victim…..

Ctrl-Alt-F18: you might want to see that epi it was great! All you have to know for this fic is that in the AU Nick died which was a rumor I heard before the epi aired. So Nick of course comes back as a ghost and has to help my Medium Jon.


	4. Epi One 3 Meet the Medium

**3**

**The** thing about living in Vegas and looking for a real psychic but not knowing a real one from a fake, is that there are a lot of people in Vegas claiming to be psychic. Each one wanted money to answer any questions, or clammed up when he told them he was with the Vegas Crime Lab. None of them could tell him anything useful; 'it just comes to me' seemed to be the universal answer.

He finally found a seeming legitimate psychic that could tell him something, but didn't know that much about Mediums. She knew that unlike most of the real psychics they tended to be more varied in how they communicated with the dead.

"If you want to know anything about things like that you go to one of two people." She said at last handing Grissom two business cards. "Jon Brendan or Greg Sanders. Jon is the real deal, Greg used to investigate the paranormal. He still does sometimes but not often."

Well that answered one question, and wasn't it surprising to discover he could have gone to one of his own instead of wasting time and money looking. He gave the woman two hundred dollars as a thank you, though she didn't ask for money, and headed for the Crime Lab. If he was lucky he could snag Greg before shift started.

He parked near the door and hurried inside catching the young blond as he signed in.

"Greg can I talk to you?" Grissom asked signing in himself on time and snagged the younger man before he could answer.

"Ahh…sure." Greg said slowly. "What's up Gris?"

Grissom waited until they were in his office with the door shut and locked before answering. "Do you know Jon Brendan?" he asked in way of introducing his line of questions.

"By reputation," Greg said after a long silence. "Why? Did something happen to him?"

Grissom shook his head, "He came here yesterday with a message from Nick."

Greg paused, "Nick didn't Cross?" he asked in surprise.

"Cross?" Grissom repeated confused.

Greg paused again.

"I got your name from a psychic. Claira Matines?" Grissom said as a way to clarify why he was asking his questions.

Greg nodded. "Cross is a shortened way of saying Crossing Over or Crossed Over. Normally when a person dies they Crossover, either to Heaven or Hell. The only people that don't Cross are those that don't know they are dead, those that have another purpose which is usually bad, the truly evil that become something else, or the ones that need to finish something before they can Cross. I would have expected Nick to Cross. What did Jon say?"

"That Nick doesn't blame us, and that he is headed for a better place." Grissom said sitting down in his chair, "So the kid was telling the truth?"

Greg nodded, "From what I know about him he only helps. It would go against his grain to play a joke. I've never actually met him though I don't really investigate any more."

"Why not?" Grissom asked interested.

Greg shrugged. "Tell me, how much credit did you give Jon?"

"I didn't believe him." Grissom admitted.

"How much credit would you have given me?" Greg asked in turn, "I was just a tech, I'm not actually psychic, I just believe. That can go a long way in that community. You can't analyze it, we don't have a science for it yet, we may never. There is even a difference between knowing and believing which is strange I know, but it's true." He shrugged. "Besides, this is more then a full time job, I couldn't do both with one being secret and get enough sleep to be able to work. I'd burn out in two months."

Grissom thought about that. Working at the lab was more then a full time job. Most did nothing but sleep and do the job. Those that had hobbies ended up doing it as part of the job. Greg would never have been able to work at the Lab and investigate the paranormal without it compromising one or both. Not secretly anyway.

"How would you like to investigate something with me? Not official yet, but important anyway." Grissom said finally, maybe now he could get some answers to what was nagging him.

"Ok," Greg said after thinking about it. "What did you have in mind?"

"I want to investigate why Nick didn't Cross, and what it has to do with Mr. Brendan." Grissom said, "I learned something about him that isn't public record while trying to find out if he was telling the truth or not. From what I've been finding out I think Nick not crossing over has more to do with Mr. Brendan then it has to do with unfinished business."

Greg nodded "What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"You know more about the paranormal then I do." Grissom said, "That makes you the expert in this case. I want you to go talk to Mr. Brendan, find out if Nick Crossed after talking to me, and if he didn't find out a possibility on why."

Greg nodded, "Anything I should be aware of before I go?"

"Nothing I can officially tell you," Grissom said, "he has to tell you himself."

"Kay," Greg said and left the room.

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Jon was cleaning the oven with all of the windows open as well as the front door to lessen the fumes. He had music blaring because a soul that had been bothering him for months was around causing trouble. The spirit wasn't ready to Cross and Jon could do nothing for him until he was ready. But that didn't mean the ghost couldn't annoy the crap out of him in the mean time.

Nick was outside getting away from the noise. He had been oddly silent since there talk earlier.

Jon didn't care what the man thought. He couldn't do anything; it was the curse that came with the gift. He would always be susceptible to the nasties on the Other side, though he had taken precautions against anything possessing him that didn't mean they couldn't and wouldn't hurt him. But for all the bad it caused him Jon wouldn't give up the ability for anything.

There was an old saying; once you learned how to fight fires you could never just sit there while a house burned down.

"Hello?" a voice said loudly from the open door way.

Jon turned to find that during his musings Mr. Broker had left to be replaced by another man who happened to be living. Jon got up and pulled off the kitchen gloves to turn down the music. "Can I help you?" he asked curiously he didn't normally get live visitors that didn't call first.

"Jon Brendan?" the blond asked. Jon nodded. "I'm Greg Sanders; I work for the Las Vegas Crime Lab."

Jon blinked, where had he heard that name before? "Oh, I've read about you. You did work in California for a while didn't you?"

Greg blushed a little, "Yeah I did." He said.

"You are a friend of Nick's?" Jon continued turning the music off and kicking the oven door closed.

"Actually I am." Greg said with a nod, "I heard he didn't Cross."

"No he didn't," Jon said suddenly aware the ghost wasn't around, "At least I don't think he did. The last I saw of him he was on the porch."

"Here?" Greg asked interested.

Jon nodded then walked past the man to search the house. Nick appeared with a pleasant smile from the back yard looking happy to have strolled in the small garden planted there. Then his smile deepened when he saw his friend, "Greg," he called then frowned when he realized Greg wouldn't hear or see him.

"He seems to be happy and sad to see you." Jon said to Greg turning to look at the blond.

Greg nodded, "Is he in the room so I can talk to him?" he asked.

Jon nodded, "Go ahead, I'll tell you anything he has to say back."

The blond nodded again. "First off, Nick, know how much I'm disappointed you didn't decide to haunt me," he said seeming comfortable with talking to thin air in his point of view. "Second, know I miss you buddy."

"I miss you too Greg," Jon said for Nick, "I'll haunt you when you learn how to hear and see me."

Greg smiled, "Deal," he said then nodded to Jon. "We all need to talk."

"About what?" Jon asked glancing at the ghost.

"Why hasn't Nick Crossed?" Greg asked.

"Oh that," Jon said enlightened. "I don't know."

"Well…" he hesitated, "Nick do you know?"

"Nope," Nick answered, Jon shook his head.

"From what I can tell, he did Cross, but didn't stay." Jon said folding his arms over his chest. "That really confuses me. Souls don't just do that without reason and they normally know that reason."

Greg nodded in agreement.

"You talked to Mr. Grissom." Jon asked after a long silence.

"Yeah," Greg admitted. "Not about much. Apparently he went investigating and my name came up. He wants to know why Nick didn't cross, and he thinks it involves you."

"Why?" Jon asked curious.

"He didn't tell me." Greg said, "He just told me to investigate since I'm the closest thing to an expert."

Jon shrugged. "Ok," he said confused, "What would any of this have to do with me? I haven't broken the law that I know of."

"Maybe it has nothing to do with the land of the living. But something on the Other Side." Greg pointed out.

Jon paused then looked at Nick. He hadn't been bothered last night had he?

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Black out/ go to commercial.

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A/N: ugg, its a good thing i checked, i almost posted chapter four before three! anyway, thank you to Omo for betaing this chappy! i'll just let everyone ride in suspence for the next chappy so Ha! you know i love you all

Please R&R, even if i dont respond i read them all!


	5. Epi One 4 Meet the Medium

**4**

**After** an hour of coaxing Jon allowed Greg to search for any signs of a crime in his home. Grissom sent Warrick to help along with an officer to take Jon to the hospital. He asked Nick to stay behind to protect the two CSI just incase and to inform him of their findings.

Grissom met him at the hospital with a camera and an evidence kit. With him was a brunette woman and a male nurse. They went to a private room where Jon was given a gone to change into for modesty sake then stood behind a curtain while Grissom took pictures of every bruise and burn mark.

Then came the rape exam and more pictures of the two bruises on his inner thighs. Surprising to him the nurse found semen in his anal cavity. Grissom told him that was good because then they had DNA.

Other then the bruises and burn marks Jon had no other physical evidence on his body. Not knowing of the possibility someone living was raping him, he had showered everyday.

When they were done Jon was allowed to put his clothes back on then given a prescription for antibiotics in case of infection and had blood drawn to make sure he didn't have an STD.

Grissom took him back to the Crime Lab where the evidence was whisked away. They went to his office for privacy. "I'm officially starting an investigation." Grissom said. "I have to ask difficult questions."

Jon nodded subdued and depressed. "I had no idea," he said near tears. "I was told for so long it was just nightmares….but I knew it was different, it wasn't the same…"

"Same as what?" Grissom asked willing to believe and willing to leaving certain things out of the report.

"The burns, like sunburn." Jon said wiping at his face with his hand until Grissom handed him a tissue. "That's _him_ coming back in death. The marks are caused by psychokinisis. Ghosts don't bruise people, not in the same way." He laughed bitterly. "I always wondered why sometimes my clothes would be removed and sometimes not, or why those different times I was always on my back or on my stomach…."

"How long has this been going on?" Grissom asked when Jon fell silent.

"Since I was released." The young man answered. "I thought I was relapsing, I don't want to be sent back."

Grissom wrote that down, "How long has the ghost been doing this?"

"He never stopped," Jon said tears slipping down his face. "For that first year I didn't notice because if the nightmares. As I got older I just learned to live with it. Except…." He hesitated.

"Except what?" Grissom prompted.

Jon swallowed. "After I talked to you last night, I went home and went back to bed. Nick was there for a while and _he_ didn't come. And I didn't even notice."

Grissom gave him a promising look. "We will catch the man who is doing this to you." He said, "I might not be able to so anything about the dead, but I can do something about the living."

Jon nodded tentatively smiling despite himself. "Thank you." He said then braced himself for the rest of the inevitable questions.

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Meanwhile…

"Oh my god," Warrick said shinning the LED light on the bed. There were stains everywhere. Old ones, new ones…. He didn't think any were fresh enough that the DNA hadn't been washed away but there was always the chance. "There's nothing fresh here," he said aloud. "Are we even sure a crime has been committed?"

"He has bruises on almost every inch of his body." Greg said taking pictures of anything that looked suspicious. He opened the bedside drawer; there was a book, a bottle of water and a container of sleeping pills. "No condoms, no lube, no toys…"

"Maybe he's hiding them?" Warrick suggested walking over to the closet and looked inside. All he found was tee-shirts in different colors, jeans, and a suit hanging on the rack and three pairs of shoes neatly lined on the floor. Looking back up at the clothes he noticed everything was color coded. "You think if we searched the house everything will be in its place and color coded or alphabetized?"

Greg glanced at the closet. "OCD maybe?" he asked.

"Probably." Warrick said shinning the flashlight over the walls and up to the ceiling. "Hello." He said spotting something that shouldn't be there.

Greg looked up at the ceiling right above the bed. "What are the chances that there's a video near by?" he asked.

"We need to get up in the attic." Warrick said agreeing in his own way.

It took them ten minutes to find the attic opening in the house. It was in the laundry room on the other side of the house. Warrick went first shining his light causally to make sure no one was up there. When he deemed it clear as far as he could see he stepped up the ladder into the large space. Looking around he found a light switch that lit the entirety of the room with enough light to see well by. The room was clean, very organized but also looked like Jon didn't come up much.

Greg took pictures of foot prints with a ruler for scale, there were two sets. One was old, almost covered in dust and barefooted. The other was shoed and looked recent, perhaps a week or so old. "Nothing fresh here either." He announced. "Either this guy only comes for a tape every once in a while or only came up to put the camera in."

"Found it." Warrick said taking a picture of the back of the little camera drilled into the ceiling then followed the little wire further into the attic's shadows. There he found a small DVD recorder hooked up to a laptop and remote. "Looks like the guy can turn on the recorder when ever he wants." He took a picture then knelt down covering his hands with fresh gloves and turned on the computer and the recorder. "Only one recorder, located above the bed." He checked the camera for the disk and smiled, "We have a disk."

Greg grinned. "Now lets hope its been recorded on." He said retrieving an evidence bag to put the disk in and placed that in a magnet safe container just incase there was a high powered magnate that could erase what was on the disk. Warrick packed up the rest of the equipment in their own protective casings and went back to searching the attic for any sign of evidence.

When they were done with the house they left it in the hands of the police and went back to the Crime Lab. The first thing they did was dust the disk for finger prints then popped it into a player to view.

The disk was not empty.

"God," Warrick muttered, no mater how many cases he worked things like this was always a shock.

"The guy is doing well to make sure he isn't seen by his own camera." Greg said looking a little green but was trying to stay professional. "He doesn't seem to be touching anything but the bed."

"Make a copy to be analyzed." Warrick said turning away from the screen.

Greg nodded and turned off the player to make a copy.

888

"What did you find?" Grissom asked the lab teck several hours later. He hadn't allowed Jon to go home instead had him sleeping on the office couch where a security camera could watch him.

"No useable images." The teck said looking up from his work. "The angle of the furniture keeps from reflecting what's on the bed. It's almost like everything was purposely made with a dull shine instead of a glossy one. The only think I can tell that the vic doesn't wake but also doesn't seem to be enjoying it."

Grissom nodded. "Keep at it, maybe we'll get lucky." He said in soft order and went back to his office to check on Jon.

However when he returned he discovered an empty couch.

"Greg," Grissom said keeping calm as he went searching for the young man hoping he had simply gone to the bathroom. "Have you seen Mr. Brendan?"

Greg shook his head. "Why?" he asked in concern.

"He was sleeping on my couch and when I returned he was gone." Grissom said thinking over where the boy could have gone.

"Do you think he went home?" Greg asked tilting his head to the side. "Being in a place where dead bodies are can't be all that comfortable for a medium to sleep in."

Grissom nodded then went back to his office to get his keys. "We'll go check then." He said already dreading the though if the young man going home and his rapist retuning.

888

Jon pulled into his driveway tiredly. Nick had not returned and he assumed the man had gone off to find some answers on his side. He was sorely missed for the comfort he gave and the protection Jon felt when around him.

However he couldn't stay in the office any longer, it was a strain on his nerves to will himself not to see the dead that were passing through, either to collect recently dead loved ones or the prey on the newly departed. He had to admit though that the CSI must solve many of their cases for there weren't as many of the angry souls as were usually found in placed where they dead were found.

He showed his ID to the officer at the door assuring the man he would sleep on his couch and not set foot in his bedroom. The officer did a quick sweep on the house and attic then told Jon he would be stationed outside if he was needed. Jon nodded and closed the front door locking it securely.

Neither noticed the shadow watching from across the street.

Black out/Cut to commercial

888

A/N:so sorry this is so late, i think this is the full beta, butthe end half might not be, if so can someone tell me and i will upload thefile i knowwas looked atby Omo.Also, after watching tonights epi of CSI (intitled: Spellbound) i decided to add at least one more Epi of Ghost Walker. i might also make this fic seriesa round robin of sorts and let other people write an epi, or at least suggest what they would like to see written. if anyone has an idea please EMAIL me with the subject line 'Ghost Walker Suggestions' i'm always looking for inperations and ideas.

also would anyone like to see an NCIS/CSI cross? or a cross with another CSI or CBS Crime Show?

Please R&R, even if i dont respond i always read them

Eva


	6. Epi One 5 Meet the Medium

5

Officer Clark Jennin hadn't worked with CSI for very long. He had been assigned few cases that didn't involve ticketing jay walkers since he graduated from the academy and wanted to make an impression. With the victim home for the night Jennin felt he had an obligation to insure the young mans man's safety not only from his attacker but from the nightmares that would haunt him.

Making a seep sweep of the perimeter Jennin covertly set up wards like his grandmother had taught him to do. She had been one of a long line of Jennin witches and since Clark was an only child she had taught him everything she knew. The wards wouldn't keep a human out, but would tell him if one with ill intent stepped on the grounds or if a ghost or other such spirit happened to pass.

What Officer Jennin didn't know was that while he was setting up his wards the very thing he wished to protect Jon from had already slipped onto the grounds and into the house.

888

Jon sat idly on the couch flipping channels and contemplated the will to get up and find a movie on the rack that house d his DVD's. He didn't want to sleep, not without Nick there to protect him. He had spent many hours in Grissom's office contemplating why Nick had not crossed and why the thing that haunted his bed every night had not come. It had never been chased away by another ghost, in fact it seemed to enjoy lording over the dead that it could touch and they couldn't. He figured that reason was because Nick wasn't meant to cross; he was destined for greater things in death.

He started to nod off around the second infomercial he came across and jerked awake with a shiver. There was something in the room with him he knew it.

Unwrapping himself from the blanket he reached over and flicked on the table side lamp to illuminate the room. He looked around with his senses finding nothing out of the ordinary in the living room. Slowly he got up and walked the other rooms leaving his bedroom for last. Each room he passed into he felt a shiver as if something were standing behind him always waiting for the right time to strike. He had an urge to summon the officer waiting outside, but felt it useless as there was nothing a normal person could do.

With dread he stopped at his bedroom door. He bit his lower lip lightly debating if he really wanted to open the door; all of his nightmares were in that room. For this to end once and for all he was going to have to confront that nightmare, but that didn't mean he would survive.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves he reached out for the door handle that seemed to turn on its own.

"Don't," Nick said appearing beside him.

From the entrance way Officer Jennin burst into the house. "Mr. Brendan?" he called alerted by the wards going off.

Jon looked at Nick and stepped away from the door toward the living room. "I'm fine." He told the man breathing a little hard. "I just thought I heard something, its nothing."

The officer looked directly at Nick then at Jon. "Right," he said slowly. "Why don't I take you back to the lab? It's safer there." He started to reach out to carefully take Jon's arm.

Jon stepped away. "I told you I'm fine." He said narrowing his eyes a little.

Jennin backed off, "Alright, just stay here and let me check."

Jon blocked his path. "No," he said jumping at his own tone of voice. He flushed. "I mean if you don't think I'm safe alone then keep me company, I'm watching TV see?"

The officer looked that at the TV, it was shut off. Jon frowned at that too, he didn't remember turning it off. The lights flickered and turned off as well leaving the room dark. Behind them they heard doors being slammed shut.

Jon went still looking around for any sign of at least two occupants in the room. He couldn't call out to Nick but he hoped he could see him. However the room was completely light free which was strange since the moon was full and should pour in some light from the windows.

"Mr. Brendan?" Jennin asked turning on a flashlight illuminating the room a little.

Jon gasped. "Behind you." He said pointing at the shadowed figure behind the officer that he knew wasn't Nick since the ghost was beside him.

Jennin whorled whirled around holding out his free hand. Almost as if by magic the shadow moved away toward the kitchen. Jennin took careful steps to Jon still holding out his hand. "Your attic, go there, it's the safest place in your house." He said his eyes never leaving the entry way. "Go now."

Jon ran feeling the presence of the creature his rapist had become follow him. Quickly he snagged the cord for the attic panel knowing the way blindly from adventures in the dark when he was a child. He cried out when the thing touched his back burning into his flesh causing him to lose his grip on the cord and the panel to slam back into place. He grouped groped for the cord wildly shying away from the feel of the burning icy cold finger tips caressing his skin. Nick barreled into the being giving Jon enough time to find the cord and pull on it hard and ducked out of the way as the ladder came crashing down off its hinges. To his horror he realized it wasn't the crash of the ladder opening but the whole panel falling to the floor.

"I can't get up!" Jon cried knowing he would never see m to be able to jump and it was too high for anything he had on hand to stand on. He didn't get a reply but that could have been because of the struggling noises he heard from the living room.

Suddenly the light came back on and the front door banged open for a second time. "Jon!" Greg called running into the house with Grissom right behind him.

"Stay back." Jennin shouted his hand still thrust in front of him. A golden halo could be seen around the outstretched appendage holding back a shadow that should have vanished with the light.

"What is that thing?" Grissom asked.

"This thing is what gives the dark a bad reputation." Jennin said as the light around his hand went black and silver. "Get Mr. Brendan in the attic; in fact I would suggest going there yourselves."

Greg looked at Grissom and tilted his head in silent order to do as asked. Grissom being an intelligent man knew when it was safer to leave the dirty work to the ones who knew what they were doing. Quickly he rounded the hall on the other side coming upon Jon where the young man stood trying to reach the gaping hole that led to the attic.

"Here let me help." Grissom said kneeling down and grasped the young mans slender hips. "On three, one two three…" he lifted Jon surprised at how light he was but got the desired result when the young man reached up and grasped the ledge. He pushed Jon up until he was sure the boy was safely inside then turned to jump himself hoping to catch the ledge.

"Look out," Greg called just as something touched Grissom causing him to fall heavily to the floor among the broken panel and ladder. His back burned as if a hot pan had touched his bare skin and his wrist hurt from where he had fallen, but not enough to think it was broken.

"Mr. Grissom?' " Jon asked looking out from the attic opening.

"Stay in there." Grissom ordered sitting up carefully.

"Are you ok Gris?" Greg asked slipping something from around his neck and put it over the man's head. Almost as soon as his fingers left the object the blond was thrown back several feet. Grissom could see the outline of the shadow thing reaching up for Jon who screamed in terror.

True to Jennin's word the moment those fingers touch the opening it sprang back its visage smoking as if it had been burned.

"It's protected." Jennin said lifting Greg to his feet and dragged him toward the opening. "Help me get him up there, he gave you his protection." Grissom just nodded not questioning how the officer knew these things. He repeated the steps he did with Jon on Greg lifting the blond as far into the attic as he could Jon pulling him the rest of the way in.

Jennin nodded to Grissom. "If I had known I would have set different wards. We need to get that thing out of the house. I can't destroy it but I can keep it out."

"What do you need me to do?" Grissom asked watching the thing try to get past the protections to the young man just beyond its reach.

"Just watch that thing, I need my attention elsewhere." Jennin said once again holding out his hand.

888

"Greg?" Jon asked patting the blond lightly on the cheek. He had moved them farther away from the opening just incase the thing could get a hand through to drag him out. "Greg please wake up."

The blond moaned a little his brow furrowed in pain. Slowly he blinked his eyes open but still looked dazed.

"Nick?' " Jon called out in a panic. Never before had his tormenter shown it self itself in the light, it had always been at night when he was alone in the dark.

"I'm here." Nick said suddenly kneeling on the other side of the fallen blond. "You'll be safe here, nothing evil can get through, and only what you want can come in here. I'm needed out there."

Jon nodded fearfully. "Be careful, don't let it suck you into itself, you'll become one of them."

"Everything will be ok." Nick said vanishing again.

Jon leaned back on the hard wood floor silently crying for another friend he feared he was going to lose.

Black out/ cut to commercial


	7. Epi One 6 Meet the Medium

6

When Jon had been six years old a man had broken into his house. That man had tortured his parents for hours by raping their son in front of them, and then had given them a kind of mercy by stabbing them to death. Neighbors had heard the screaming of the little boy as his parents were killed and called the police who had responded within minutes.

With his knife ready to end Jon's life the man had promised he would torment the child even in death, though at the time he had meant Jon's death, but meanings can go both ways. So when police burst into the room and shot the man dead no one realized such a promise couldn't be broken.

Putting the little boy in a mental institution for children had been a good idea. Jon was traumatized by what had happened to him and would have made a recovery. Maybe not the type of recovery that would lead to normalcy but it would have been a recovery and we would have heard no more of his story. This was not the case however. Because of the dead man's promise he did not crossover to where he would have been tormented for eternity. Instead he became a shadow linked to the life of a little boy that would grow up.

And because Jon had been told for years that his continued torment was part of his imagination he had never gotten the help he needed when that help could have made a difference. Had he known Clark Jennin and his grandmother as a child he might have been blessed and the creature his tormenter had become could have been banished. Now the thing was too strong taking its power from every night of torture he presented Jon for twelve years.

A lot of things can be prevented in hindsight.

"I don't think I can banish it either." Jennin said watching the creature sway from side to side looking for a weakness in either of the two remaining occupants of the room.

"What is it doing?" Grissom asked mesmerized by the thing for a moment.

"Looking for something to hurt." Jennin supplied. "That's how it feeds. I think it's connected somehow to Mr. Brendan. Either that or it sees him as adequate prey because he's tied to the Other Side."

"Jon said that it's the ghost of his rapist." Grissom supplied. "I've been told it's been visiting him for twelve years."

Jennin nodded holding out his hand to keep the creature away from him. "That would explain how powerful it is." He admitted. "The more violent the last hours of ones life the more power they have in death. That's why serial killers are rumored to carry on after death. At least half of them are. We need to get that thing out of the house and off the property; I can use the wards I put there to keep it off."

Grissom nodded. "Then what do we do?" he asked ready to do anything to help. His back still hurt from where it had touched him once; imagine what Jon went through every night.

"I don't know yet." Jennin admitted. "I've never dealt with a spirit this powerful before."

888

Jon looked around his attic searching with his eyes for a reason why the most unlikely room in the house was so protected. He didn't remember why he always favored the attic as a child; he only remembered that once upon a time it was the place he slept when he stayed with his aunt.

Making sure Greg was going to be alright Jon turned on the light and walked over to the corner that held boxes of his aunt's things. He pushed aside the cardboard until he found the truth of obscure books held together with a soft buzz of power.

"Greg, this is no time to sleep!" Jon shouted, "Help me here." He started pulling out books, flipping though each, looking for some help. "I think my entire left side is going to be burnt." Greg said hobbling to where Jon was. "What are you looking for?"

"Something that will help us." Jon answered. He jumped when one of the books shocked him. "Ow, do you think that might be what we're looking for?"

"Only one way to find out." Greg said reaching out for the book himself. When it didn't shock him, he picked the book up and opened the cover. He grinned upon reading the first words. "I do believe this is it."

88

"Gris!" Greg called from the attics opening. "We found a way to get rid of that thing."

"So what do you say Nick?" Jon asked the ghost uncertainly. "How would you like to be bound to this world through me?"

"Will it send that thing to hell where it belongs?" Nick asked in concern.

"That's what where hoping." Jon said. "The spell is to displace the link, if you take it over then that thing will have nothing keeping it here."

Nick nodded, "Alright, let's do this."

"He'll do it," Jon told Greg moving to the hole in the floor. Greg nodded jumping down to the main house with the book. Jon followed a moment later, falling into Jennin's arms.

"We're only going to get one chance at this." Jennin said letting Jon go. "You'll be in the middle, and I'll perform the spell."

"Ok," Jon said moving to stand in the middle of the circle, "Just tell Nick when to join me."

"Stand there and there." Jennin instructed Grissom and Greg. Jennin held his arms out chest high as if he were going to do a ballet move with his arms open; the other two followed suit. "Just don't move."

Jennin hummed deep in his chest. With him the very air in the living room hummed with power. Around them they would hear a distant shrieking; but to Jon it was as loud as if someone was screaming in his ears. Closing his eyes tightly and covering his ears with his hands, he tried not to cry out in pain and break the spell.

Jennin spoke in a low chant over the sound. No words could be distinguished from the hum of the air yet a clear result could be felt. Instantly the Dark Shadow surrounding them, trying to get past the circle to Jon.

"Follow me to Shadow, follow me past light." Jennin said clearly. "Be in Darkness, be out of Sight. Take a plan and promise, made beyond Death. A link for Life, a line in strife. Cast away thy Shadows Bane, open the Way."

Jon screamed dropping to his knees as the link connecting him to the creature his former rapist had become severed. For a moment Nick flickered out of sight as Jon's natural gift took over from the link connecting him to the Spirit World.

Simultaneously as if practiced Greg and Jennin dropped their hands where they met opening a window into the circle. Jon nodded the moment Nick was inside signaling for the circle to be closed again.

Jennin took a deep breath and started humming again. Instead of an answering hum the Darkness that was the creature receded as their circle began to glow. Slowly Jon got to his feet then held out his hands to Nick, willingly linking them together.

"Follow me to Light, Follow me past Night," Jennin said clearly. "Be out of Darkness, Be in Sight." Immediately Nick came into view for everyone in the circle. He smiled sadly at Grissom and mouthed words to Greg that were returned as the spiky blond cried.

Pausing for a moment for the full effect to set in Jennin continued. "Take a plan and promise, made beyond death."

"I promise to look after you and keep you safe," Nick said in automatic compulsion dictated by the spell. He meant it, not only for Jon, but for Greg too, as well as his friends at CSI.

Jennin nodded, "A link for Life, a line for Light. Come my way oh Shadows Bane, Close the way."

The light surrounding the circle pulsed outward chasing the remaining Shadows away as the spell was sealed. Nick glowed for a moment longer in the resulting darkness as a beacon of light and hope. Then he faded from everyone's sight but Jon's, whom promptly collapsed in Jennin's arms.

"He's alright," Jennin assured the two CSI. He lifted the small body into his arms and settled him onto the couch.

"How long will they be linked." Grissom asked the inevitable question.

"As long as they want." Jennin said, "Links like this are more common then you think. When they are both ready Nick may crossover, but I suspect that will be a while."

"He needs me." Nick said bluntly.

"I heard that." Greg announced.

"It's a side effect." Jennin explained. "Nick has more physical attachment here now. And unlike the creature his touch will not harm anyone." He winked at Greg.

Blackout/cut to commercial


	8. Epi One 7 Meet the Medium

7

Things were looking much brighter at the Brendan residence. Rearranging had been made so Jon's bedroom would be the attic. The hole in the ceiling had been boarded up and reinforced. A real small stair case had been cut into the attic instead.

After being redecorated Jon decided to rent out the Master bedroom to Jennin whom had no difficulty at all in cleansing the whole house of negative imprints. It was as if all the evil done to Jon over fourteen years had been wiped clean and made pure again.

"I was wondering Jennin." Grissom said while helping the officer more into the house. "Do you have any experience with forensic science?"

"I can process a crime scene and I specialize in ballistics." Jennin answered. "Are you going to keep Jon on retainer?"

"He's thinking about it." Grissom answered. "I have a slot to fill on Graveyard. You interested?"

Jennin paused in moving boxes around. "Tell me. If I had not been involved with helping Jon, would you consider me at all?" he asked curiously.

"Honestly I don't know." Grissom said, "I haven't been about to look at the applications to see if you applied."

"I did." Jennin answered the unspoken question.

"Then I would have at least interviewed you." Grissom said still honestly.

"Oh take the job," Nick said from where he watched.

Jennin and Grissom looked at the empty doorway. They could Hear Nick, but could not See him.

"Well I guess if Nick insists." Jennin said slowly. "Who else would take the really strange cases?"

"Hey guys, the van's empty, wanna get something to eat?" Jon asked stepping around Nick. He wore stained jeans, a dingy t-shirt, and a bandana that has seen better days. Dirt smudges covered his face. He couldn't look happier.

"Why don't you get cleaned up and then we'll discus food." Jennin suggested.

Jon mock pouted then stuck out his tongue, "You're paying then." He announced then trotted off to his room.

"I still can't believe he could get a bathroom installed up there at such short notice." Jennin said shaking his head. "It proves just how much charm he has."

"He seems to be doing better now." Grissom observed.

"He is better." Jennin said, "Having such an evil soul attached to yours would do a lot of damage. He might not have survived if we had just severed the link. Nick was a good man in life. He is a good soul, and that soul is healing Jon's." he looked over at the faint outline of where Nick was standing. Aside from Jon, and sometimes Greg, that was as much as they could see of the ghost. "You saved him."

"He saved himself by never giving up." Nick corrected. "I just wish it hadn't been my death that got anyone to notice."

"There isn't much we can do about that." Grissom said, "All we can do now is find the living man who hurt Jon."

88

"What do you have for me?" Greg asked Hodges walking into the lab.

"No sperm." Hodges said handing over the file, "No DNA."

"Damn," Greg muttered, "Do you know if anything was found on the tape?"

"No clear images," Hodges answered handing over another file. "There weren't any finger prints either."

Greg sighed. "Thanks he said in defeat.

Going back to the lab the evidence was kept in he carefully packed everything up and gave it to the evidence locker.

'Case Unsolved'

Black out/ end Episode One


End file.
